"Ravichandran Ashwin would have been my..." - Sanjay Manjrekar unimpressed with Rohit Sharma's captaincy in 3rd Test

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar criticized skipper Rohit Sharma’s tactics during the ongoing third Test match against England. Sanjay Manjrekar described the late introduction of senior spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as a tactical error.

The Indian team posted a formidable total of 445 runs after opting to bat first in the Rajkot Test. Rohit Sharma smashed his 11th Test century, scoring 131 runs. Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja (112) rescued the team from a challenging situation at 33/3 in the first innings.

Didn’t Understand That Move – Sanjay Manjrekar

When asked about Ravichandran Ashwin‘s late arrival, Sanjay Manjrekar expressed confusion regarding the captaincy choice. Manjrekar emphasized that Ashwin has the capability to counter England’s aggressive approach against Indian spinners.

“I didn’t understand that move. I thought it was an error. A tactical error. Ashwin bowled the first ball when the score was 72 and that’s a lot. Among the Indian spinners, Axar Patel included, I think Ashiwn is the only one who started to find a way to counter this new English approach of playing spin. He would have been my first-choice spinner. I couldn’t understand Kuldeep Yadav coming in at that stage. There was a fair bit of pace bowling too when you could see that the fast bowlers weren’t really creating any impression at all,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj commenced the new ball, and Kuldeep Yadav came in as the first change. Ben Duckett reached his half-century off just 39 balls. Ravichandran Ashwin joined the attack in the 12th over, by which time England had scored 72/0.

Ashwin made an instant impact and dismissed Zak Crawley on his seventh delivery. The off-spinner broke England’s 89-run opening partnership. Following the dismissal, the 37-year-old also became the second Indian bowler to complete 500 wickets in Test cricket.

Rohit Sharma Invested In Pace A Bit Too Much – Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar cautioned Rohit Sharma about the threat posed by England, suggesting an over-reliance on pace bowling that could potentially backfire. He urged Rohit to be mindful of these factors for future matches.

“These are the things that Rohit Sharma’s got to be careful about. He’s got to treat this opposition, who are very dangerous, ruthless,” Manjrekar added.

“Ashwin coming after 72 runs on the board, may come back to haunt him and maybe Jadeja as well who came on to bowl when there were 100 runs on the board. He invested in pace a bit too much. He’s got to be careful,” he concluded.

England ended Day 2 at 207/2 with the help of Ben Duckett’s magnificent century. However, they failed to maintain momentum on the third day. They lost three wickets in the first session, including Duckett. They scored 290 for the loss of five wickets at the lunch break.

It is worth mentioning that Ravichandran Ashwin opted out of the ongoing match due to personal reasons, as confirmed by the BCCI on Friday, February 16. The home team has no option to replace Ashwin in the match, according to the ICC rules.

Also read: “Kuldeep Yadav is a good spinner to have against Bazball” – Sanjay Manjrekar ahead of 3rd Test